


A Flicker of Light Before The Dawning

by lunarknightz



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Character Undeath, Devon Sawa am I right?, F/M, Inspired by Casper, M/M, Major Character Undeath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27240625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarknightz/pseuds/lunarknightz
Summary: After three years, the final battle with Caleb is at hand.  The battle will not come without sacrifice.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 116





	A Flicker of Light Before The Dawning

It had all been building to this. The months of investigation into Caleb’s past; Willie’s careful organizing of the lost souls in Hollywood Ghost Club into an union against Caleb’s rule. Finally, they put the pieces of the puzzles together. In a mission that Reggie deemed the Order of the Phoenix (Julie had lost count of how many times the bassist had read the books and watched all eight movies), they’d found the secret lair under the Ghost Club. This was their strike- the last four ghosts standing, with two determined Molina humans at their side- to take down Caleb once and for all.

The pleasures of the Hollywood Ghost Club did not come without a price- your energy, your life force; everyone who danced, sang, or even enjoyed the club’s ambience were feeding their energy into his machine. The machine gave power for ghosts to live a half-life; but his machine had even more of a sinister purpose. Four shining vials of a bright blue portion glowed in the heart of a large cylindrical machine; a bright tunnel with flashing lights. 

“It looks like that machine in the Ant-Man movies.” Reggie said in a hushed tone. “This is it, guys, the Lazarus machine.”

“Lazarus?” Luke wrinkled his nose.

“From the Bible.” Alex shrugged. “The man that Jesus brought back from the dead. It’s amazing how lessons from Vacation Bible School stick with you.”

“Do you think it really works?” Reggie questioned.

“One way to find out.” Willie walked into the machine and withdrew the four glowing vials. He passed one to Alex, Reggie, and Luke, keeping one to himself. He smiled at Alex. “if this doesn’t work…”

“I know.” Alex smiled. “I do too.”

Willie downed the vial of blue liquid in one gulp. A bright glow enveloped him; so bright that his friends quickly rose their hands to their eyes to shield the bright light. A light popping sound rang through the room.

“I’m alive!” Willie said in a hushed voice. “It worked.”

“How wonderful.” Caleb said, popping into the room. “I’ve always liked you, Willie, so you served as a good guinea pig. I thank you for your service. Now get along, while I feel generous and enjoy your second life.”

“Go.” Alex said; “We’ll be out soon.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that boys.” Caleb growled. “I believe you have something that belongs to me, and I’d like it back. Losing Willie’s dose will set back my timeline for an eternal powerful afterlife, but we all have to make sacrifices, don’t we, in the name of progress?”

“Your reign of terror is ending, Caleb.” Ray said, standing in front of Julie and her phantoms. “This ends tonight. Give it up.”

“I’ve finally accomplished what I set out to do with my afterlife. Why would I give up now? You lifers. Such an eternally limited point of view.” He leered. “Maybe you’d like to see what the afterlife is like?” 

A glowing lighting bolt arched from Caleb’s fingers to Ray’s chest. Ray fell down on the floor, convulsing. 

“Dad!” Julie cried, and held on to his hand. “Stay with me Dad….”   
Her world crumbled as for the second time in her life, a parent was dying in front of her. Rage blinded Julie, angry at all that Caleb had taken from the boys, from her. She gritted her teeth, holding on to Ray’s hand, trying to muster all the strength that she had.

An idea came to her mind.

“You.” She snarled. “You must be so proud of yourself.”

“Um, winning. Duh. So you could say that I’m pretty proud.”

“You fulfilled your goal. Your unfinished business.”

“My plan worked, so yeah. I did it.” Caleb gloated.

“Do you know what happens to ghosts that have finish their unfinished business?”

Caleb’s face changed from utter bliss to sheer terror.

“They cross over.” Julie growled. 

During their conversation, an otherworldly vortex, a swirling whirl hole of silver and purple had grown behind Caleb, and without hesitation, it swallowed Caleb up. It sizzled and popped and faded out of existence to nowhere, taking the horrible Caleb Covington from the world for once and for all, as Caleb screamed in terror the whole way. 

Julie turned to the phantoms. “What are you waiting for? It’s time for you to be human again.”

Luke, Reggie, and Alex looked at each other, a silent conversation that needed no words. 

“There’s only three vials left.” Reggie said in a soft voice.

“And someone needs it more than us.” Alex added in. 

“We can do something, we can find more, maybe Caleb has more on stash somewhere. You’re supposed to live. I need you to live. “

“And I’m supposed to pick someone that I love, and sacrifice them? I can’t do that. I shouldn’t have to…you are all my family and I can’t pick…”

“It’s not your choice to make, Julie.” In an instant, he knew what he had to do. Luke knelt down next to Ray’s still form, and poured the liquid down his throat.

The same blinding light that had enveloped Willie enveloped Ray. His heart began to beat once more and he stood up with a start. “Mija? I think we kinda lost each other for a minute there, huh?” 

“It’s okay, Papi.” Julie said, hugging him, “It’s okay.”

“Luke, how can I ever repay you? Maybe there’s another way, something else that we can do…” Julie gazed up at him. “Thank you.”

“I’d do anything for you, Jules. It….was the right thing to do.” Luke’s form began to flicker.

“Dude, what’s going on?” Reggie asked. “Are you okay?” I’m not flickering, Alex isn’t flickering, why are you flickering?”

“Luke. No.” Julie’s heart dropped to stomach in dread. This couldn’t be happening, how could this be happening….this was happening. “No, I’m not ready, no.” 

Luke smiled. It didn’t hurt, like the shocks from Caleb had hurt 3 years ago when this started. It felt pleasant, as if he was falling asleep. “I think I did it. I’m done. It was you.”

“I was your unfinished business?” 

“Jules, you are my _everything_.”

Luke’s form flickered into a glittery glow, and then he was gone.

****

Heaven, Luke thought, looked a lot like the Molina’s garage. The bright sunlight, the smell of Julie’s slight floral lotions, the instruments where his friends had made music together.

There were worse places to spend an eternity he figured.

He sat down on his couch (his couch- he had to be in heaven, it was _his_ couch.)

He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to forget the look on Julie’s face a moment ago. He didn’t want to leave her, but Luke had seen her struggle to be without her mother. She needed Ray—she needed her Dad, more than she needed a ghost with a serious case of time warp. And the band, the band would be okay. They’d find another guitarist, and Julie could still write without him…”

“That was a very noble thing you did, Luke.”

His eyes snapped open, to see a woman beside him, clad in a white flowing dress and an otherworldly glow.

“Rose.” He said, placing where he’d seen the face before. “From the Orpheum.”

“In one part of my life, yes.” She grinned, “Later I was a piano teacher, and a wife…and Julie’s mom.”

“That’s how she had the CD. And the shirt. It was you. Did you…did you send us to Julie? Are you an angel?”  
Rose winked. “I know that Julie will never forget the sacrifice that you made for her today, Luke. She needs her father.”

“I would do anything for Julie. I love her.” He’d never admitted to it to himself before. When he was alive, he’d had relationships, but he’d never been in love. And in the three years since Julie played the Sunset Curve CD and summoned them into her life; he’d only grown more devoted to her. It had been an interesting little relationship, but it had meant more to him than he could express. It should have been embarrassing saying that to her mother, but somehow, it wasn’t.

“I love her, I really love her.”

“She loves you.” Rose patted his hand. “Anyone with eyes can see that when you sing together.”

“Will she be okay?”

“She has her Dad, and Flynn, and Carlos. And the guys. And our Julie is stronger than she even knows.” Rose said with a smile. “They will take care of each other.”

“That’s good.” Luke nodded. “Can I see them?”

“I think i can do better than that.”

“Better?” Luke wrinkled his nose.

“When you gave Ray your dose of the medicine, you acted out of love. Love for Julie and Carlos so that they would have their Dad, love for Reggie and Alex so they would have the opportunity, which I am pleased to say they took, to have a new alive life. You thought not of yourself, but of others. A truly selfless act, Luke. And I am here to offer you a reward. No greater love is there than one who lays down his life for his friends.”

****

Julie had not felt this numb since her mother died. She couldn’t say how they had made their way from Caleb’s lair to Flynn and the getaway car. How could the car feel crowded and empty at the same time? With Willie, Alex and Reggie along with Julie and her Dad, the car was packed. 

She should be happy. Caleb was gone. Her Dad was alive.

But Luke was gone. He’d crossed over.

How could she be his unfinished business, when the lack of him felt like her unfinished business?

The entire way home, she tried to think of his voice, holding it inside of her as a memory she wouldn’t let time steal. Around her, Dad and the boys talked about how they would handle the fallout, when they could get the boys new IDs for their new lives. Everyone was sad in their own way, dealing with the dichotomy of victory over Caleb and the agony of losing Luke. 

Julie tuned them out. Grief is a powerful weapon for surviving the monotony of a traffic jam.

When they arrived home, Julie walked to the garage in a daze. She couldn’t recall leaving the car, her heart leading her to a place where she felt close to Luke.

“I want to thank you.” She said to the empty garage, “The last three years have been the weirdest and most wonderful time of my life. I didn’t get a chance to say it, and now you’re gone, and you’ll never know. I love you, you idiot. You wonderful idiot.”

She took a deep breath and tried not to sob, closing her eyes.

“Only you could crush my heart and make it race in a single sentence.” Luke’s voice echoed through the garage. “I guess that’s why I love you too.”

Julie’s eyes snapped open. 

Luke was standing in front of her; his hazel eyes sparkling. Gently, he gathered Julie into his arms, to where she could feel his breath on her forehead, a scent of peppermint and cinnamon that shouldn’t work but somehow did. Her hand went to his chest, where she could feel his heart beat.

His heart beat.

“You…you’re alive….but you….you crossed….”

“It’s like a bonus life, like in Super Mario. Pretty cool, Molina, huh?”

“You could say that.” She grinned. “What? How?”

“I meant an angel.” 

Luke could wait no longer to kiss her. It was kiss twenty five, or three, or even twenty eight years in the making.

“Can I keep you?” Julie said, after they broke apart.

“I think that can be arranged.” His crazy, enthusiastic smile matching his own. “And by the way, your Mom says hello.”

—FIN—

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in many ways by the 1995 movie Casper. Loving homage with a plot bunny that would not go away.
> 
> Title from "Beautiful Ghosts" by Taylor Swift.


End file.
